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time-frames, both under siege by the same strong winds.31 The mistress of novices has sent all the novices Upstairs into the choir to practise The service for deliverance from storms and thunder. Their light dapples the sharkskin windows, The harmonium pants uphill, The storm plucks riffs on the high tower.32 9780719075636_4_008.qxd 156 16/2/09 9:25 AM Page 156 Poetry The retreat upstairs is one that both protects and exposes the novices in the face of the coming storm, yet they only ‘practise’ the service, postponing the fullest test of the power of prayer
mistress, and our modern novelists’, Eleanor is depicted as even more seriously misguided than her sister, Cassandra ( The convent , vol. 1, p. 16). Although tedious and irrational, Cassandra is nevertheless committed to feminine modesty and virtue. In contrast, Eleanor is not only jealous and mean-spirited, but also determined to get what she wants, even if that means engaging in unfeminine activity. In a telling incident, therefore, Eleanor writes to Stanhope to express her love for him. In so doing, Eleanor confirms her ‘fallen’ nature. Stanhope accordingly begs
